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Ally Financial has agreed to pay a $98-million fine to settle an investigation into unfair lending practices overseen by the Justice Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). In an investigation of lending practices in the year after April 2011, the government agencies determined that Ally Financial and Ally Bank charged roughly 235,000 Asian/Pacific Islander, Black and Hispanic borrowers higher interest rates than their credit profiles warranted and higher rates than white

In December, the US Treasury granted General Motors the rights for the company to once again buy corporate jets and for its executives to fly on them, but neither those execs nor the ones at Ally Financial will get any raises this year. The automaker, worried that top talent might leave for higher-paying pastures, reportedly sought a more "market-based approach to executive compensation" for 12 of its top 25 execs. Because the federal government still has stakes in both GM and Ally, though, the

In a move that welcomes former pieces of General Motors back into the fold, GM Financial has reached a deal with Ally Financial, formerly GMAC, to buy a piece of the company's international operations. The $4.2 billion deal is for Ally's Latin America, Europe and China operations.

Christy Romero, a special inspector general examining the corporate bailouts that came in the wake of 2008's financial crisis, has some advice for the U.S. government: "Treasury should develop a concrete exit plan for GM and Ally." She is referring, of course, to the 30-percent stake that the government still holds in General Motors and the 74-percent stake it holds in Ally Financial, formerly known as GMAC when the Treasury pumped $17 billion into it.

Back when Ally Financial was known as GMAC Financial, the U.S. Treasury gave it $17.2 billion in TARP funds to weather the global economic crisis. GMAC is now Ally Financial, and although it has repaid $5.4 billion of what it was loaned, there doesn't seem to be a clear path for repaying the outstanding amount. Bloomberg reports that Ally's mortgage unit, Residential Captial (ResCap), is teetering on the ledge of bankrupcty, and its banking operations didn't perform well in the Federal Reserve's

Ally Financial, formerly GMAC Financial, has filed the paperwork necessary for an Initial Public Offering. The Detroit News reports that the filing will go to the Securities and Exchange Commission for approval before Ally can go public; a process that could take months. The federal government, which owns 74 percent of the lending arm due to its $17.2 billion 2009 bailout, is the only party listed as a stockholder.

General Motors may be in the process of acquiring AmeriCredit as a step toward securing a captive in-house financing operation, but the company says it will continue to nurture its relationship with Ally. As you may recall, Ally (formerly GMAC) has financed dealer floor plans for years, and GM says that it will continue to rely on its former financing arm for that very reason. While AmeriCredit has been able to weather the rise and fall of consumer confidence with nary a scratch, the company doe

Chrysler Financial hasn't been doing a whole lot since the domestic automotive implosion of aught-nine. When the Obama Administration's Automotive Task Force found that the lender didn't have the wherewithal to continue making large loans to dealers, GMAC was forced to take over lending duties for Chrysler. Part of that decision was due to the fact that last year, used car values were at one of their lowest points in decades. Since the majority of Chrysler Financial collateral involves used cars

Come August 23, GMAC's auto lending business will be brought under the Ally Financial banner. While GMAC had already rebranded its other financial divisions, the auto business still went by GMAC. The move continues GMAC's distancing itself from its General Motors mothership, and if we read more into it, this could make it even clearer that Ally has no interest in returning to majority ownership by the automaker (GM still maintains a small stake in the company post-bankruptcy).

In a word, yes. The Detroit News reports that General Motors is looking to find a way to tap into the subprime lending market that accounts for 16 percent of the overall car-buying market. There is, after all, plenty of pressure to sell more vehicles to enhance the company's value leading up to its initial stock sale. But while GM would like to strategically go after subprime borrowers, there is one significant roadblock in the way; Ally Financial. The financing firm, which was GMAC until The Ge

If General Motors CEO Ed Whitacre has a personal soundtrack, perhaps it's anything by the group Attack! Attack! While the world waits for news of GM's first real profits, the company head is staking out a potentially huge acquisition, that being the auto financing arm of Ally Bank, which was once GMAC.

"We started off building and selling cheap cars, but now we are changing," says Geely Automobile Holdings Chairman Li Shufu at at Tokyo press conference. Geely is the purveyor of some of the most inexpensive cars in China, and now it's looking to sell in other markets. Citing Geely's great respect for Japanese manufacturers, Li expressed a desire to collaborate with them as Geely follows the trail they blazed over a generation ago. Competition in the Chinese auto market is cutthroat, and Geely h